How to record and submit times:

First of all you will need BOTH GRAV13.ZIP and DEMOREC.ZIP in order to enter this competition. Unzip both these archives to the same directory, typically "C:\YAROZE\MEMBERS\GRAV" or something. README.TXT is the readme for the normal game, and DEMOREC.TXT is the readme specific to the Demo Recorder. GRAV13.ZIP is Gravitation v1.3, the complete game and all you normally need. DEMOREC.ZIP is a small add-on tool which can use to save your own demo recordings (in this case, your Grav Compo recordings). DemoRec is what I used to create the demos that are present in the normal game. A demo recording file is 72K, and this contains replays for all nine maps. There are two demo files, DEMOPAL.DAT and DEMONTSC.DAT which come with GRAV13 -- for PAL and NTSC mode systems respectively.

To enter the Gravitation Championship all you need to do is set your best time-trial records in Gravitation, in 1-player Race, Demo Recorder mode. At the DOS prompt, just type "DEMOREC" (or "SIOCONS AUTODR") and all the necessary files will be uploaded to the Yaroze. (The normal game is run with "SIOCONS AUTO"). You should see from the title screen that the version is v1.3DR and there is a red RECORD option, and a REPLAY option on the menu. Note that the two-player and dogfight modes available in the normal game (and powerup pods) are disabled in the DemoRecord version.

The default recordings (my own demos) are loaded by default, but as soon as you select RECORD on the menu, your recording will override them (in Yaroze memory). You have a recording space for each map, of about 2½ minutes, so when you select RECORD while displaying MAP 1 for example, it will record over map 1's latest demo only, ie. recordings for maps 2 to 9 are kept in tact. Bear in mind that it only records your last attempt -- it DOES NOT automatically keep your best. When you are happy with the times you have set for all nine maps just select QUIT from the menu to go back to the brick-wall screen. Press ESC on the PC to exit SIOCONS. Then, at the DOS prompt, type "SAVEPAL" which runs a batch file and extracts all your PAL demos (all nine maps) from Yaroze memory to the PC, as a file called MYPAL.DAT . (Note that if you are using NTSC you type "SAVENTSC" and the file will be called MYNTSC.DAT)
[Mac users: if you cannot run the SAVEPAL batch file then you will need CW_DSAVE.ZIP Simply (unzip to your GRAV directory and) run this utility (CodeWarrior only) and select the relevant item on-screen, immediately after quitting Gravitation, to save your replays. See the included readme.txt for extra info. The file will be 74000 bytes (not 73728) but it will still work okay]

Then Zip up your MYPAL.DAT file together with a list of your times (and any comments you care to make about your record attempts) and email it to me at james@manc.u-net.com and check the Grav Compo page within a day or two for details to be entered on the tables. Don't forget that just by entering times for all nine maps you are eligible to win TOCA Touring Car Championship. The only tip I can give you regarding playing the game if you want to stand a chance of a podium prize-winning finish is: Use The Force! So, either think like a rabid Star Wars fan, or try looking at the Grav Flying Guide for some top tips from yours truly.

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